2019 Topps Series 1 Baseball Hobby Box Break & Review

Posted on February 12, 2019 by sportscardinfo

2019 marks professional baseball’s 150th anniversary. If those original players from 1869 could see what today’s players get paid, they’d go nuts. Cards really didn’t get their start until the mid-1880’s. Nobody, and I mean nobody, had any clue that someday those tiny pieces of paper would end up to be so incredibly valuable. I’d like to own an original Old Judge card, but that’s not something you can just pickup quickly. A lot of research in my opinion has to be done. I wonder what the sport of baseball will look like in another 150 years? What about collecting? Will cards even be a thing? Maybe packs of cards will get beamed into our brains while traveling to Mars. I won’t be around to find out, and my guess is neither will you.

Its the middle of winter, and there is snow on the ground. With the release of 2019 Topps Baseball Series 1, I can begin to see a glimpse to the end of the coldness outside. Baseball season is coming!!!

With a new flagship set comes a new design. Its one that will be around all year. So you better like it. The card backs have been receiving the most attention. Many collectors enjoy seeing full statistics listed, along with an easy to follow color scheme. On the fronts, Topps took an unusual approach and placed the player’s last name above the first. The last name is also considerably larger.

A standard hobby box will cost $60. (24) packs are inside, housing (14) cards each. That’s a bit different compared to (36) packs with (10) cards. (1) autograph or relic should be found per box. Jumbos are more expensive, but come with (1) autograph and (2) relics.

(350) cards make up the base set. Parallels include Purple (Meijer), Yellow (Walgreens), 150th Anniversary, Rainbow Foil, Gold #’ed/2019, Advanced Stat #’ed/150, Vintage Stock #’ed/99, Independence Day #’ed/76, Black #’ed/67, Mother’s Day Pink #’ed/50, Father’s Day Blue #’ed/50, Memorial Day Camo #’ed/25, Platinum #’ed 1/1, and Printing Plates #’ed 1/1. (100) cards have Clear parallels #’ed/100.

I really like the cards that feature shots of various stadiums. As a Phillies fan, my favorite one is of Citizens Bank Park. If they zoomed in on the left side we could see the Harry Kalas statue.

There are a lot of SPs to pull. Regular SPs come (1) per hobby box at least. SSPs are really difficult to pull, and fall 1:444 packs in the hobby format. Flipping the cards over to see the CMP code always helps in identifying them. I’ve always seemed to find them near the center of the pack too.

Base – #1910
SP – #1967
SSP – #1968

Inserts are plentiful. The Home Run Challenge cards make a return. These make the season extra fun. Simply log in to your Topps account, enter the code, and pick the date you think that player will hit a home run. If your prediction ends up being correct, Topps will send you a special card. I got Javier Baez from the Cubs. My birthday is on June 16th. That’s the day I picked for him to go yard. They’re playing the Dodgers that night. Hopefully he stays healthy and can play.

Another insert set that grabs my attention are the Iconic Card Reprints. (50) cards are in this set. These have one parallel, 150th Anniversary #’ed/150, and depending on the player command more on the secondary market than I’d expect. (25) of them have autographs. I like the Babe Ruth cards Topps included.

As I mentioned before, a hobby box such as this comes with (1) autograph or relic. Flagship products have their share of very impressive high-end hits, but are extremely difficult to pull. You can’t open up a box and be angry that you didn’t get a rare hit. Retail options allow you to experience the first set of the season without having to spend too much.

Checklist

Here is what I pulled:

Relic